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Paul Jones sets out a court’s cost options after a case that is only a partial success ‘The court concluded that the claimant was the successful party on liability but the defendant was the successful party in relation to quantum.’ A not uncommon issue in relation to costs in personal injury claims is what costs …
Continue reading "Costs: Winners and losers"
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Liam Ryan discusses summary dismissal, psychiatric injury and remoteness ‘While Mr Yapp was not successful with regards to his claim for psychiatric injury it needs to be remembered his claim for unfair dismissal succeeded.’While stress at work claims where a claimant has been exposed to a lengthy and continuous period of stress recently benefited from …
Continue reading "Psychiatric Injury: For the greater good?"
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Limitation; Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978; date cause of action accrues ‘If in any doubt whatsoever about when limitation expires, assume it expires on the earliest possible date and start proceedings before then.’This case determined a short but important point as to when the limitation period runs (and therefore expires) in respect of a claim …
Continue reading "Case Report: Chief Constable of Hampshire v Southampton City Council [2014] EWCA Civ 1541"
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Lucy Boyle outlines the details of the new compensation system for asbestos victims ‘The person must not have already brought an action for damages against an employer or insurer and they must be “unable to bring an action” because an employer or insurer “cannot be found or no longer exists or for any other reason”.’ …
Continue reading "Asbestos: The Diffuse Mesothelioma Payments Scheme"
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Nick Leech and Andrew Sands build on their article in October’s issue with further exploration of the traditional lump sum award versus periodical payments ‘All in all, the proposition that claimants would be better off with lump sum awards is incorrect.’ Despite all that has been written about the present discount rate and its impact …
Continue reading "Investment: The discount rate – debunking the mythology"
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Paul Jones examines an emerging area of dispute in the application of QOCS ‘The starting position for QOCS is that a costs order made in favour of successful defendant to a personal injury claim cannot be enforced against the claimant.’ One of the most significant reforms ushered in by the Jackson report was Qualified One …
Continue reading "Costs: Once a QOCS, always a QOCS"
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In the first of two articles Hannah Godfrey considers the tactical and practical considerations associated with multiple defendant claims. The next, in the February issue, will review the substantive law ‘Where the injury is divisible, you may need to consider the merits of proceeding against one or more defendants separately rather than joining multiple parties …
Continue reading "Multiple Defendants: Who to sue? Practical and cost considerations"
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One of the more intellectually challenging concepts in the field of clinical negligence is that of material contribution. Julian Matthews highlights two recent cases which illustrate some of the issues which arise ‘A defendant cannot be held to be liable for loss or damage that it did not cause or to which it made no …
Continue reading "Negligence: Material contribution to damage"
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Taking the strain; foreseeability in occupational stress claims ‘Occupational stress cases, whether founded on cumulative stress or on a one-off act of unfairness, remain extremely difficult to win.’ This case provides important confirmation of the difficulties in establishing liability for injury arising from occupational stress. Hitherto it was arguable that the high foreseeability hurdle erected …
Continue reading "Case Report: Yapp v Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2014] EWCA Civ 1512"
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Guy Pomphrey discusses the new criminal offence of wilful neglect ‘A jury must consider the extent to which the defendant’s conduct departed from the proper standard of care and assess whether this conduct was so grossly negligent as to constitute a crime.’ The public inquiry into the events at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust led …
Continue reading "Neglect: Prosecuting healthcare professionals who harm patients"
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